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Georgetown Hoyas: Are They BACK?

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics
By Jeffery McCarthy | Last updated Dec 24, 2024 5:50 PM ET

New Sheriff in Town

The last time Georgetown made the NCAA tournament was 2021 when they lost in the 1st round to Colorado. Since then, the most recent NCAA tournament appearance for them was 2015 where they lost in the second round to Utah. The Hoyas have been struggling mightily for the past decade but they may have found their resurgence. Ed Cooley is a well renowned coach in college basketball and is most well known for his time at Providence. He led them to a 242-153 record in his tenure with the team and 7 NCAA tournament appearances including a final four run in the Friars 2016-2017 season. Cooley left Providence to join a fellow Big East school in Georgetown. In his first year they accumulated a 9-23 record but this year might just be the turning switch as Cooley has led the squad to a 10-2 record to start the year.

The X-Factor

The leader for this young Hoyas squad is junior guard Jayden Epps. Epps transferred in from Illinois in 2023 and finally broke out once finding the Hoyas. He led the team, averaging 18.5 points and 4.2 assists on 34.8 minutes per game in 2023-2024. Although this year his points average has dropped to 16 points a game, his efficiency levels have jumped immensely shooting 40.3% from three and 46.7% from the field. Epps best game of the year came against a tough and gritty Syracuse squad at their home court. He scored 27 with 4 assists on 11-15 shooting from the field to lead the team to a 75-71 victory. Epps is the biggest piece to this squad and is a big key to seeing how far this Hoyas team can go this year.

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Epps is so detrimental to the crew but the additions Cooley made in the offseason are going to make or break this team. The Hoyas biggest additions this year were Micah Peavy from TCU, Malik Mack from Harvard and Freshman phenom Thomas Sorber. These three have been firing on all cylinders and show no signs of slowing down. Peavy is the ideal guard for any team, he plays great defense and is one of the more versatile offensive weapons in college basketball. We saw this against Creighton with his 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 steals leading them to a massive win over a conference rival. Malik Mack is a stud, he makes plays with the ball and runs this Georgetown offense to perfection for Cooley. Against Syracuse, Mack scored 9, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished out 8 assists in their win. Mack put on display his all around effect on the game and showed just how much of an impact he can make game by game even when it’s not in the scoring column. Last but certainly not least is Thomas Sorber who leads the front court with 14.8 points and 8 rebounds. The Freshman has started this season out on an unreal pace with big performance after another. In their most recent win vs Seton Hall he scored 19 with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. The kid has come to play for the Hoyas and may be the factor to how good Georgetown could be.

The Road Ahead

The Hoyas have back to back Big East win’s vs Seton Hall and Creighton while also getting a big win vs Syracuse. It’s early in the season to tell what the Hoyas can bring but in the Big East they won’t be able to hide. In coming weeks they’ll have to play #9 Marquette, #11 Uconn, Saint John’s, and Xavier. This will be a real test for Georgetown and Cooley to see how they can respond to top ranked team’s in the country. Georgetown has stayed under the radar so far but watch out for the Hoyas cause they have the firepower to make some serious fireworks in Big East play and maybe even March.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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